A Utah emission inspector testified in 2018 that the Diesel Brothers vehicle had been modified illegally. As a result of the judge’s decision, the business was barred from making the same alterations on future truck builds. The matter was finally closed in March 2020.
Is Diesel Brothers coming back in 2021?
Heavy D and Diesel Dave are officially back for another season after seven seasons of monster truck construction and insane stunts.
Why did the Diesel Brothers get fined?
On top of $848,000 in prior penalties for environmental code violations, the stars of the reality TV show “Diesel Brothers” have been sentenced to pay nearly $1 million in legal fees. 3:30 p.m., March 8, 2021
What happened to Chavis on Diesel Brothers?
Unfortunately, Chavis’ transmission failed during a practice run, and things did not go well for him. Despite replacing the defective parts, the truck’s transmission began to leak on the day of the competition, disqualifying him.
What happened to the red headed guy on Diesel Brothers?
RedBeard is still an official member of the Diesel Brothers cast, according to Discovery’s website. In his Instagram bio, he even mentions the show.
RedBeard may have limited the amount of filming he does, or he may simply be placed on the cast as a formality. While the man with the notorious ginger beard isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, his most recent credited appearance on the show was in 2019.
Did the Diesel Brothers win the lawsuit?
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) – In a case brought by a Utah environmental group, a federal appeals court affirmed some of the case against the reality TV stars known as the “Diesel Brothers,” but reduced the amount of damages they must pay.
The Diesel Brothers were sued in 2016 by Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, who accused David Sparks and Joshua Stuart of illegally removing pollution control equipment from their diesel trucks and replacing it with defective emission control parts. In Salt Lake City, a federal judge concurred with the environmental group, awarding more than $1 million in damages.
The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals supported Utah Physicians for a Health Environment’s ability to suit the Diesel Brothers in the first place in a verdict issued on Tuesday, but severely limited their scope.
“As a result, we believe UPHE has standing to challenge Defendants’ actions that contributed to the Wasatch Front’s hazardous air. The EPA has concluded that the Salt Lake City area, which includes the locations where Defendants do business, is a nonattainment area for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels over a 24-hour period “The decision was written by Judge Harris Hartz.
The three-judge court ruled that UPHE lacked the legal authority to sue for pollution outside of the Wasatch Front. The lower court was also directed to reconsider the amount of attorney’s fees and damages that could be awarded.
The verdict was hailed by Cole Cannon, an attorney for the Diesel Brothers, as a victory for his clients. According to him, the initial complaint would have considerably broadened the scope of who can sue for pollution offenses.
“It hasn’t been fun for the Diesel Brothers to be used as guinea pigs to test the Clean Air Act’s constitutional limits. This judgement, on the other hand, should significantly declutter our court system by establishing sensible limits on who can sue whom and where they can suit. We anticipate that the 10th Circuit’s decision will lower the damages award against the Diesel Brothers by more than 90%, and we look forward to Judge Shelby’s wisdom in making that final computation “lation,” Cannon said to FOX 13 in an email.
“I’m disappointed that the parties involved were unable to reach a more practical solution that would have benefited the environment, such as the Diesel Brothers’ offer to fix low-income people’s emissions problems for free. However, it appears that these cases are more about attorney’s fees than the environment.”
“Specifically, the court upheld Judge Shelby’s previous decision that private citizens can use the Clean Air Act provisions to hold the Diesel Brothers accountable for adding to our community’s pollution burden by intentionally tampering with pollution control devices on cars and trucks,” said UPHE president Dr. Brian Moench.
“However, the appeals court’s decision today has far-reaching repercussions. It’s a win for public health, the rule of law, and citizens’ ability to sue any firm that engages in a similar business conduct that violates citizens’ right to breathe clean air.”
Did the Diesel Brothers pay their fine?
According to the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby of Utah ordered on Jan. 26 that David “Heavy D” Sparks and Joshua “Redbeard” Stuart must pay $928,602 in legal expenses to Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.
Is black diesel legal?
Because colored diesel is not taxed, it is prohibited from being used in on-road cars by the federal and state governments. The rules governing the use of coloured fuel range from monetary fines to lengthy prison sentences.
- Distributors are prohibited from transporting coloured diesel fuel with the goal of supplying it to drivers of on-road vehicles. Additionally, retail outlets carrying this product are prohibited from selling it for use in an on-road vehicle.
- Dyed diesel cannot be used in an on-road vehicle by retail consumers. If a reason is stated, a law enforcement officer can remove a sample from any gas tank to check the fuel. Thousands of dollars in fines can be imposed if dye is discovered in an on-road car.
- At both the state and federal levels, removing dye from fuel is illegal. The dyes leave minute remnants that lab testing can detect, therefore it’s ineffective in the first place. The consequences of selling or using coloured diesel that has had the dye removed are severe.
Can you still delete a diesel?
Clients who wish to perform emission deletes on their trucks send us emails, phone calls, and live chats every day. All of these customers have the same issue: their automobiles require frequent, expensive maintenance, and they are fed up with it. I truly sympathize with them; many of them have had traumatic situations and are simply searching for a way out. However, before we delve too far into the weeds, there are a few fallacies that we commonly encounter.
Myth #1 – Deleting or Tuning a Truck is Legal
There is no way around it; tampering with or modifying your truck’s emission system in any manner is completely unlawful. It is not a state or local law (though such do exist), but rather a federal law. The first thing clients remark when we discuss it is that “it’s only for off-highway use” or “it’s for tractor pulls.” They believe that by doing so, they will be able to avoid any laws, but this is far from the case.
Yes, your emission system can be lawfully removed from your vehicle, but it will require recertification by the manufacturer and the issuance of a new emission label and certification. You can’t just sign a piece of paper and declare that your engine has been recertified. You’d have to pay to have your engine re-certified by the original equipment manufacturer, which is a costly process.
Myth #2 – There are no EPA Police
This is technically correct. A federal emission law, on the other hand, can be uploaded by any state or municipal government. This misconception is similar to someone declaring, “There are no IRS cops,” despite the fact that the IRS can collect and enforce laws from a building thousands of miles away. The extent of testing and enforcement will differ depending on your state and county.
Myth #3 – The EPA doesn’t go after the little guys
Another prevalent misunderstanding among clients is that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not target small enterprises. For your convenience, the EPA maintains a list of every single resolution filed against the Clean Air Act for cars, organized by year. Cases range from tuning equipment providers being taxed over $4 million to a single owner doing a DPF delete on a single car.
If you think you’re “too small” to be noticed or cared about, rest assured that you’re wrong. It only takes one employee or service provider to report the problem, and you’ll be in serious trouble in no time. If the removal/tuning has been done frequently or on a wide scale, the cases might be both civil and criminal.
The fines can quickly mount, as the EPA has the authority to levy civil penalties of up to $7,500 per day for major violations and $37,500 per day for minor violations.
Myth #4 – Only California Cares about Emissions
We get calls from county and state governments asking for a software solution to detect pollution manipulation on commercial trucks on a regular basis. We don’t have a response yet, but I can assure you that someone is working on one right now. There is a sizable demand for a device like this. The reason for this is that the fines are so high that a government agency might pay tens of thousands of dollars each month for that software and still make a profit.
California isn’t the only state with this problem. Several counties in Texas already require emission testing on commercial trucks, and states like Minnesota, as well as New York, are following suit. They’ll find a means to collect fines if there’s money to be made!
Myth #5 – Deleting my emissions will solve all my problems
This isn’t even close to being accurate. Your first task will be to find a competent “tuner” to assist you, and based on our experience, there are more incompetent ones on the market than good ones. To be honest, the truly outstanding tuners aren’t promoting because they know what they’re doing. In terms of technical expertise and capacity, the ones that do advertise are often at the bottom of the totem pole. They frequently clone one ECM software to another without thoroughly inspecting the intricacies.
So, what exactly does this imply? It indicates that if your engine is tuned by a bad tuner, you will have serious issues. Poor engine performance to your engine flinging a rod through the block are all possibilities. Inexperienced tuners, for example, will often remove the EGR on the PACCAR MX engine. The EGR, on the other hand, cools the combustion chamber. With the EGR removed, your head will shatter, and you’ll be dealing with a far worse problem. Modern engines are built to work in harmony with all of their components, and changing one component might lead to more serious issues. If you think it’s just MX engines, consider this Facebook user who had an ISX removed:
Aside from these urban legends, there are a few more things to consider.
Finding a Shop to Help You
You’ll have a hard time finding a franchised dealership to help you once you’ve removed your emissions. They don’t want to take on the risk of working on decommissioned emission equipment, and they can’t guarantee the work. That means you’ll have to find a qualified independent facility willing to work with you on your own. Even if the engine problem you’re having has nothing to do with your tune or delete, as most of you know, seeing them on the open road can be challenging at best.
Reselling Your Truck
If you ever consider selling or trading in your truck, you will almost certainly run into problems. If you sell it with parts removed, the individual who buys it or takes it in trade will have a legal case against you. You made an unlawful change without informing the customer, and now you’re facing legal (and financial) consequences. You will very certainly have to pay to restore all deleted components to their original configuration. Even taking your truck to an auction doesn’t exempt you from liability, as one forum user pointed out. Law enforcement frequently attends public auctions to guarantee that no illegal activities are taking place. Note:
Summary
There are two basic approaches for emission adjustment, according to the “economy.” The first option is to save money by learning to do it yourself. Because it requires downloading ECM information to your laptop/computer, updating the software, then pushing it back, you should have a foundation in computer science and how diesel engines work if you go this route. The actual “tuners,” who are subject matter experts, do exactly that.
These folks, on the other hand, are often hard to discover and are aware of the risks indicated above. They gain money in a different way, by selling the “tunes” to repair shops. Do you remember the guy who advertised on Facebook and Craigslist that he would do a tune for $1,000? That individual has no idea what he’s doing. He’s buying tuning files from real specialists, marking them up, uploading them to your ECM, and then walking away from you for good.
That’s all we know about eliminating and optimizing your engine. Our recommendation is to avoid it and instead work with a local, experienced repair shop that has access to necessary diagnostic instruments and repair information. You’ll be alright if your engine is well maintained and you can locate a qualified repair facility that can effectively troubleshoot emission difficulties. If you can’t find one, we recommend taking advantage of our hands-on aftertreatment diagnostics training class.
Who Dave Sparks?
Dave Sparks is a Salt Lake City, Utah-based entrepreneur, custom vehicle builder, and social media celebrity known as “Heavy D” on the Discovery Channel’s smash TV show Diesel Brothers. Dave has been fascinated by anything with a motor or wheels since he was a child. The “Mega Ram Runner” is his most renowned creation, and you should check it out since it’s incredibly badass.
Dave enrolled in college to study welding, mechanics, and fabrication, but after his first semester, he realized that real-world experience would teach him more than books and lectures. He learned the ins and outs of running a business while working for his uncle’s construction company and handling heavy gear.
Dave met the girl of his dreams in 2009. They married a year later, and he opened a tiny used car business. Then he started DieselSellerz, his dream firm that makes badass trucks. That boyhood fantasy of his became a reality.
Diesel Brothers, Dave’s Discovery Channel show, is possibly his most well-known work. In the episode, Dave Sparks (Heavy D) and his friend Diesel Dave transform junkyard-bound diesel vehicles into stunt-ready machines. Diesel Brothers exploded onto the scene in 2016 and has been a huge success ever since. It’s already on its sixth season, which will premiere on March 16, 2020.
Dave, on the other hand, did not achieve all of this by being at ease. He may now have his own helicopter, but as a child, he and his entire family lived in a VW van. He started from the ground up. To make things work, he had to take risks and stretch himself. He wasn’t expecting any freebies. He assumed responsibility for his own achievement and did not expect it to “simply happen” to him.
We discuss how he attained success by focusing on self-improvement and investing in good relationships in this interview.